Infobohttp://www.infobo.com
Website Design, Consultancy, SEO, Information Architecture, Project ManagementTue, 12 Dec 2017 17:12:38 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.1Which unions are the most influential on Twitter in 2017?http://www.infobo.com/which-unions-are-the-most-influential-on-twitter-in-2017/
http://www.infobo.com/which-unions-are-the-most-influential-on-twitter-in-2017/#respondThu, 30 Nov 2017 17:38:15 +0000http://www.infobo.com/?p=2128Towards the end of every year I take a look at which of the TUC-affiliated unions are the most influential on Twitter. I’ve been doing this for six years, with all previous results available on my blog (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016). To measure the influence, I use a tool called Klout, and independent analytics

]]>Towards the end of every year I take a look at which of the TUC-affiliated unions are the most influential on Twitter. I’ve been doing this for six years, with all previous results available on my blog (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016).

To measure the influence, I use a tool called Klout, and independent analytics service that monitors the reputation of social media accounts. It looks at things like the number of followers as well as interactions such as likes, retweets, etc. It also takes into account the influence of those interacting with the Twitter account.

Unite remain top – they have been for every year I’ve ever done this analysis. As usual, Unite’s metrics are way ahead of the other unions. The CWU continue their impressive rise, now reaching 2nd place. Two years ago they were languishing at 24th, so that’s an impressive turnaround. The PFA remain in third position for the third year running.

UNISON, Equity, RMT, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the GMB make up the rest of the top eight, while the new teaching super union, the NEU, debuts at joint 9th.

Biggest risers

Union

Positions moved up

BDA

11

AFA-CWA, BECTU, NAHT

9

FBU, RCM

8

CWU, CSP, GMB, TSSA

7

The biggest riser is the BDA, who have moved up 11 places to 14th. AFA-CWA, BECTU and the NAHT all put in good improvements, moving up 9 places each, while the FBU and RMC move up eight places each.

Biggest falls

Union

Positions moved down

ATL

21

NUT

17

Community

9

USDAW

8

Nautilus Intl

7

The biggest falls belong to the two educational unions who have merged to form the new NEU. They are still tweeting from both these accounts for now, which is why I’ve included them, but they both fall significantly. The ATL move down 21 places and the NUT drops by 17 places. However, the new union puts in an impressive debut, breaking into the top ten at joint 9th.

As well as the newly merged NEU union, there is also a debut from the POA, who have now started tweeting, and enter in the 40th position. Unusually, we also see one union stop Tweeting, with NASS appearing to have deactivated their Twitter account.

]]>http://www.infobo.com/which-unions-are-the-most-influential-on-twitter-in-2017/feed/0How big is your union website in 2017?http://www.infobo.com/how-big-is-your-union-website-2017/
http://www.infobo.com/how-big-is-your-union-website-2017/#respondFri, 08 Sep 2017 10:23:04 +0000http://www.infobo.com/?p=2080A couple of years ago, I looked at the sizes of the websites of all the TUC affiliated unions, to see how they compared. I’ve found myself coming back to this analysis quite often. Various unions have wanted an idea of how large their website is compared to others, or have wanted to judge how

]]>A couple of years ago, I looked at the sizes of the websites of all the TUC affiliated unions, to see how they compared. I’ve found myself coming back to this analysis quite often. Various unions have wanted an idea of how large their website is compared to others, or have wanted to judge how their website has changed since a redesign. As a result, I thought it would be useful to update these metrics.

For the sake of this comparison, only pages publically indexed in Google are included. It is impossible to include members’ only pages, so please be aware of this limitation. Also, some pages may be omitted from Google, for example, pages that allow navigation through listings. A correctly configured site will allow search engines to search through these, but will use metadata to tell search engines not to index them.

To generate the figures published below, I’ve used the “site:” search command in Google, for example, site:infobo.com. The results show approximately how many pages are indexed on the domain. If a union uses subdomains, such as library.infobo.com, then these will be included as well.

The table below shows the results, and the change in website size over the last two years:

The union website with the most pages indexed in Google belongs to the NAHT, with 67,800. This is followed by the CSP with 28,400, and PCS with 16,700. UNISON previously topped the metrics in 2015 with 96,800, but now come in fourth with a much reduced 15,800.

It’s interesting to see that, overall, there has been significant reduction in the number of pages for many of the previously largest sites. 23 of the 49 websites have actually shrunk in the past two years.

Unions have a duty to provide a lot of good quality online content, to inform their members, and to influence the public and decision-makers. However, having the largest website isn’t always a positive .

If a site has a lot of content, it could be a signal that out-of-date material exists on the site. Out-of-date content might impact the effectiveness of the site’s navigation and search systems. High page counts could also indicate that the site is badly configured for search engines, and that pages that should not be indexed in search engines, such as duplicate content or pagination, are appearing in search results. This is usually to the detriment of the site’s effectiveness.

For example, I recently led the redesign of Prospect’s new website and information architecture. Previously this site had about 58,000 pages indexed. Using some analysis tools, I discovered issues around duplicate content and URL structures. Addressing this, combined with preening some older content, led to a reduction in page count to 8,350 pages. That’s about 49,650 fewer pages being indexed by Google. This in turn has helped the site’s search engine performance.

Having a lot of content isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As long as the site is configured correctly for effective Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), and the main hierarchical content areas are organised well, an effective archive of relevant content, such as old news stories, can continue to pull in visitors and provide a useful resources to both the union and the general public.

]]>http://www.infobo.com/how-big-is-your-union-website-2017/feed/0OK Google, let’s talk unionshttp://www.infobo.com/ok-google-lets-talk-unions/
http://www.infobo.com/ok-google-lets-talk-unions/#commentsTue, 05 Sep 2017 14:27:49 +0000http://www.infobo.com/?p=2084One of the latest frontiers in technology is voice controlled smart assistants. Systems like Apple’s Siri, Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana have been bringing voice controlled commands to mobiles, tablets and desktops over the last few years. However, Amazon raised the stakes by launching the Amazon Echo, a standalone hub designed to allow you to

]]>One of the latest frontiers in technology is voice controlled smart assistants. Systems like Apple’s Siri, Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana have been bringing voice controlled commands to mobiles, tablets and desktops over the last few years. However, Amazon raised the stakes by launching the Amazon Echo, a standalone hub designed to allow you to manage your digital life through voice alone.

Google have since launched their own voice controlled smart assistant, ‘Google Home’, and Apple have announced that their own offering, the Apple HomePod, will be launched later this year.

These voice activation systems allow users to request information, perform tasks and control their Internet of Things (IoT) devices without having to press anything. For example, you can request what you have in your diary for the day, play music and radio channels on command, and control the temperature in your home with a compatible smart thermostat.

Google Home was launched in the US last year, but it has only just become available in the UK. Each competing device has different strengths and weaknesses, but I’ve opted for Google’s offering for my office.

The vision is that, in the future, many people will use these devices for everyday tasks instead of their desktops or mobile devices. So, I thought I’d see how Google Home deals with union-related questions.

What will the increasing number of users be hearing when they ask their ‘smart assistant’ about unions? Below are a number of union related questions and the responses from Google Home.

OK Google, what’s a trade union?

“An organised association of workers in a trade, group of trades, or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests.”

Hey Google, should I join a trade union?

“Unions are all about supporting their members at work. Those involved in the union movement believe that all aspects of working life should be the subject of discussion and agreement between employers and employees who are organised together under the protection of a trade union.”

The reply I get is taken from the Unite site. It seems that building content addressing the ‘Why should people join a trade union?’ question pays off for Unite, and they control the message ahead of others.

OK Google, I want to join a trade union?

“On the website gov.uk, they say ‘Find a union to join. If there’s a union at work, you can ask the trade union representative (‘rep’) about joining. Their contact details may be in your company handbook, intranet site or on the union noticeboard. The union rep will tell you if you’re eligible to join and give you a membership form to fill in.”

So far, Google Home has actually done a decent job of answering some of the basic questions about unions. It’s using the power of Google Search Engine to get these answers, and so sites that perform well in search and are search engine optimised, such as Unite in the example above, influence the message.

I wanted to dig a bit deeper with some more detailed questions, so I asked some sector-specific questions.

OK Google, what are the public sector trade unions?

“Trade Unions frequently mentioned on the web include Public Sector Trade Union, Unison, Prospect and others”

Hey Google, which trade unions are there for professionals?

“Trade Unions frequently mentioned on the web include Prospect, Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and others.”

OK Google, tell me about the teachers unions

“Trade Unions frequently mentioned on the web include National Union of Teachers, Association of Teachers and Lecturers, National Association of Head Teachers and others”

Next, I thought I’d try some more specific questions.

Hey Google, who is the General Secretary of the TUC?

“Here is a summary from the website en.wikipedia.org: Frances Lorraine O’Grady is the General Secretary of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC)”

Hey Google, what is the biggest trade union in the UK?

“Here’s a summary from the website tuc.org.uk. U: UNISON. Trade union representing full-time and part-time staff who provide public services in both the public and private sectors, USDAW, UCAC, UCU, Unite and URTU.”

Not a great answer here. It does mention both Unite and UNISON, but is seems to get fixated on unions starting with u.

The ‘goose eggs’ – questions Google Home can’t answer yet

If you’re reading this, you may think Google Home is hitting a pretty good response rate on these questions. However, there have been quite a lot of misses as I’ve tried out various questions. Here are some notable ones:

OK Google, what the minimum wage per hour?

“Sorry, I’m not sure how to help with that yet”

OK Google, how many union members are there in the UK?

“Sorry, I’m not sure how to help with that yet, but I’m always learning”

OK Google, how much does it cost to join UNISON?

“I’m afraid I don’t know how to help with that”

OK Google, how much does it cost to join USDAW?

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand”

It’s interesting to see how much Google Home can and can’t do yet. Given it’s only been out in the UK for a couple of months, it’s not done a bad job of answering many of these questions.

Google does have the advantage of being able to use its search engine to power some answers I haven’t tried the Amazon Echo, so I don’t know how it performs on these questions, but I suspect it won’t do as well.

This experiment highlights the growing importance of having web content that addresses frequently asked questions and good search engine optimisation. Unite manages to influence debate by getting their content for the ‘should I join a trade union’ ranked above anyone else.

This also highlights how the semantic web will influence the future. Websites are increasingly including semantic web mark-up, such as the schema.org standard, to help systems such as Google pick up information such as names, descriptions and prices (think of the union subscription questions). As the popularity of home smart assistants grow, sites that adopt semantic web standards are likely to be more ‘vocal’ that those who do not.

]]>http://www.infobo.com/ok-google-lets-talk-unions/feed/2Trade Union Website League Table 2017http://www.infobo.com/trade-union-website-league-table-2017/
http://www.infobo.com/trade-union-website-league-table-2017/#respondThu, 22 Jun 2017 15:34:58 +0000http://www.infobo.com/?p=2062It’s time again for the annual trade union website league table. So how have the metrics changed in the last 12 months? (Previous results can be seen at 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012). The league table doesn’t judge the quality of the website directly. Instead, it uses leading industry metrics to measure how many times the website is

]]>It’s time again for the annual trade union website league table. So how have the metrics changed in the last 12 months? (Previous results can be seen at 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012).

The league table doesn’t judge the quality of the website directly. Instead, it uses leading industry metrics to measure how many times the website is linked to and shared on other websites and social media.

The more mentions and links a union’s website gets, the more influential it is considered to be. With a well search engine optimised site, this leads to higher placement in search engine results and more visits. For unions, this means greater influence online.

As usual, I focus on TUC affiliated unions. I’ve also used the same metrics following last year’s revamp – Domain Authority, MozRank and Domain Rating.

The first two are part of the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tools provided by Moz, and the latter is from the Ahref SEO company.

I find the Moz tools are better at differentiating good quality and bad quality links, while Ahref picks up many more links in general, especially from smaller websites.

UNISON have reclaimed the top spot for the first time since 2013. Unite held it in 2014 before the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy impressively punched above their weight with the number 1 positon for the last two years.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy are still doing well, but have dropped to third. Second place goes to the British Dietetic Association (BDA).

Unite drop down to fourth, the first time Britain’s largest union has slipped out of the top three since I started the league table in 2012.

Equity, NUJ, Musician’s Union, NUT, UCU and the GMB make up the rest of the top ten.

Who’s up?

The biggest upward movement this year belongs to the PFA, who make an impressive double digit jump of eleven places, from 23rd to 12th.

The Welsh union UCAC make the second largest jump, up from 50th to 41st – although this is because they took a hit last year after making a change to their domain. Other unions with noticeable increases include URTU, NAPO, NUJ and the POA.

Who’s down?

Community and the NAHT share the biggest fall, both slipping 6 places to 37th and 21st respectively. Other noticeable falls include Accord and the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, who both drop four places.

Conclusions

There hasn’t been much drastic movement this year, but there has been a good reshuffle. This is especially true of the top five, with UNISON back at the top after a three year absence. Note the margins between the metrics of the top 4 unions are very small.

Elsewhere, there have been many small movements, with fewer unions than usual holding onto the same positions.

]]>http://www.infobo.com/trade-union-website-league-table-2017/feed/0The rise of the semantic webhttp://www.infobo.com/the-rise-of-the-semantic-web/
http://www.infobo.com/the-rise-of-the-semantic-web/#respondWed, 14 Jun 2017 17:58:33 +0000http://www.infobo.com/?p=2058If ten years ago you were asked what the next major trend in website design would be, not many people would have mentioned ‘responsive design’. With the iPhone yet to be launched and the iPad another three years away, people were still happily building websites that worked on a fixed size. It took quite a

]]>If ten years ago you were asked what the next major trend in website design would be, not many people would have mentioned ‘responsive design’.

With the iPhone yet to be launched and the iPad another three years away, people were still happily building websites that worked on a fixed size.

It took quite a few years for website development companies to start adopting the practice of making websites that automatically adjusted to the screen size, a now well-established technique called responsive design.

Throughout that time, I saw some organisations spend large sums on websites that missed this trend.

They often had to go back and redesign their website again soon after as they weren’t advised on this new approach that addressed the increasing use of smartphones and tablets.

When looking for similar parallels with current website design trends, the closest thing I can see is the semantic web.

While it might not be as obvious a trend as the rise of smartphone and tablet browsing, it is of growing importance and many new websites are currently missing out.

The semantic web is a way of structuring and tagging web pages so that they provide more information to other applications, such as search engines, apps and the increasing number of artificial intelligence-based assistants such as Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana.

By using a standard way of identifying information such as images, review scores and prices, it is much easier to share information from a website with different systems.

You are most likely already using the semantic web. Have you ever searched for a film in Google and seen the rating displayed in the search results? Have you looked for a product and seen the different prices displayed in the search results? That’s powered by the semantic web.

You might even have seen where a lack of semantic web information has caused problems, such as posting a link into Facebook but seeing the wrong information or image displayed from the website.

While the idea behind the semantic web has been around for a long time, it has now matured and being implemented, largely thanks to the Schema.org standard and other protocols introduced by social media platforms.

If you are involved in a project to create or revise a website, check to see if this is being included. It might not be as visible a change as responsive design, but it could make an increasingly large difference to things like visitor numbers.

]]>http://www.infobo.com/the-rise-of-the-semantic-web/feed/0Careersmart 2.0http://www.infobo.com/careersmart-2-0/
http://www.infobo.com/careersmart-2-0/#respondFri, 12 May 2017 15:35:31 +0000http://www.infobo.com/?p=2050Back in 2014, Prospect launched the Careersmart.org.uk website, providing information and guidance on careers and work issues from a union perspective. The site has recently undergone a major revision, with the new version launched at the end of April 2017. I’ve been leading on the redevelopment. The main focus of the redevelopment has been tapping

]]>Back in 2014, Prospect launched the Careersmart.org.uk website, providing information and guidance on careers and work issues from a union perspective. The site has recently undergone a major revision, with the new version launched at the end of April 2017.

I’ve been leading on the redevelopment. The main focus of the redevelopment has been tapping into a new government big data source called ‘LMI (Labour Market Information) for All’. This online data portal connects and standardises existing data sources, such as the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) and the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

To accommodate this new data, the site has been redesigned, with a new navigation structure and design.

One of the major new features is a directory of all the official Occupations in the UK, as classified by the government’s Standard Occupational Codes (SOC). Each occupation page shows data such as average annual salary, average working week, unemployment rate and future projected employment. The final aspect of the data focuses on equality, looking at gender, age and regional differences in pay, hours and unemployment.

There is also an industries directory, looking at occupational data for that industry, such as the highest and lowest average salaries, most employed occupations and highest average hours. There are also detailed graphs breaking down average pay, hours and employment levels for all the common occupations in that industry.

Aside from these directories, the site provides a lot of analysis using the latest data from the LMI for all ‘big data’ sources, such as looking at the best and worst paid jobs in the UK and the jobs with the longest hours. The ‘big data’ sources are also used to look at trends in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Manufacturing) and Digital, including working conditions and projected future growth.

There is also a section dedicated to equality, including a revealing look at the gender pay gap by occupation, unemployment rate variations between men and women, and a breakdown by gender of the employment levels in all the occupations in the UK.

All this new data comes direct from the official ‘big data’ sources, and will be automatically updated as new data comes online.

The site already contains a plethora of articles and podcasts on careers and workplace issues. Hopefully the addition of detailed labour market information will make it even more useful. The site can be visited at careersmart.org.uk.

]]>http://www.infobo.com/careersmart-2-0/feed/0Never mind the DPA, here’s the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)http://www.infobo.com/never-mind-the-dpa-here-comes-the-gdpr-general-data-protection-regulation/
http://www.infobo.com/never-mind-the-dpa-here-comes-the-gdpr-general-data-protection-regulation/#respondTue, 28 Feb 2017 09:37:51 +0000http://www.infobo.com/?p=2043When the UK’s Data Protection Act came into force in 1998, the term ‘Data Protection’ entered our vocabulary as a representation of the legal rights individuals have over their personal data. Far fewer people understood the ins and outs, but the concept of data protection entered mass consciousness, just as the internet age was starting

]]>When the UK’s Data Protection Act came into force in 1998, the term ‘Data Protection’ entered our vocabulary as a representation of the legal rights individuals have over their personal data. Far fewer people understood the ins and outs, but the concept of data protection entered mass consciousness, just as the internet age was starting to roll.

In May 2018, the legislation is being overhauled to meet the requirements of a much changed world, as the stricter General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force. This represents a significant tightening of the rules, combined with much greater penalties for breaches – both financial and penal.

Many organisations are unaware of this change. A recent survey by Cloud Security firm Netskope found that of 2,000 UK adults, 63% had never heard of the GDPR, while under 10% had detailed knowledge of the new legislation. With limits being removed from fines and the possibility of jail sentences for senior managers, it’s important that businesses and other organisations that handle sensitive personal data, such as unions, are aware of the implications of the new legislation.

Data protection legislation identifies some personal data as being ‘sensitive’, in that it requires additional protection when held by organisations. These sensitive areas include information such as sexuality, religion and union membership. This makes it even more important for organisations who hold this type of data to prepare for the changes ahead.

So what are the main changes being made? Well, one of the key objectives behind the new legislation is to give people greater control on how their data is being used. For example, websites will now be expected to require affirmative rather than passive acceptance of terms and conditions that affect their users’ data. Online forms requesting personal data will require a check box to confirm consent.

Organisations will need to provide greater transparency around where they store data, what they use it for, and when they delete it. There will be greater rights to request information in a timely manner, and a new ‘right to be forgotten’, where data must be erased upon request where it is no longer serving a purpose.

Another important change is the introduction of unlimited fines. Previously, a risk-based approach could be taken, as fines were capped, but this will no longer be the case

I’ve come across some very questionable practices in the past, where lack of knowledge was used as a defense. In future, the stricter approach will see potentially huge fines and even prison sentences for similarly poor practice. Business and other organisations should take note and start planning now.

]]>http://www.infobo.com/never-mind-the-dpa-here-comes-the-gdpr-general-data-protection-regulation/feed/0Secure and practical passwordshttp://www.infobo.com/secure-and-practical-passwords/
http://www.infobo.com/secure-and-practical-passwords/#respondFri, 27 Jan 2017 12:35:13 +0000http://www.infobo.com/?p=2037Passwords are an essential part of life now, from carrying out the weekly shop, to accessing social media, to logging into your union website. The problem with passwords is that many people use the same one multiple times, or use an insecure one which is easy to guess. We don’t have to wait long nowadays

]]>Passwords are an essential part of life now, from carrying out the weekly shop, to accessing social media, to logging into your union website. The problem with passwords is that many people use the same one multiple times, or use an insecure one which is easy to guess.

We don’t have to wait long nowadays before we hear of yet another website where user details have been compromised. Most recently, Yahoo revealed in December that 1 billion user accounts had been breached, probably dating back to August 2013, making it the largest such security breach in history. Many other well-known and popular websites have also been hacked in recent years: eBay, LinkedIn and Adobe, to name just a few.

This can be particularly damaging when people always use the same password. In such cases, if unscrupulous hackers obtain a user’s email and password from one site, it is very easy for them to access other accounts which use the same login.

So what makes a secure password?

Technically speaking, the most powerful passwords are long, incomprehensible mixtures of special characters, numbers and mixed case letters. This is likely to foil a ‘brute force’ approach, where dictionaries are used to find combinations and variations of words. The problem with this technique is that the most powerful passwords are very difficult to remember.

A compromise approach is to use a technique that improves security but is also easy to remember. One example is to take a phrase or line from a favourite song, and then take the first letter of each word and combine them. Vary the case of the letters and add numbers and special characters where possible. For example, replace ‘I’ with an ‘!’, and ‘E’ with a ‘3’.

It’s advisable to add a variation to the password for each account. For example, for a Google account, add a ‘G’ and an ‘O’ into a certain segment of the password as well. This way, if a password is hacked, it will be different to the one you use on other services.

When two-step authentication is available, it also makes sense to use this facility. This is where just using the password is not enough – an additional check such as a code sent to your mobile is also required. Popular services, such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Twitter, now offer this facility, although you usually need to enable this in the settings.

It’s worth taking a few minutes to make sure your passwords are effective and unique for each site – it could save you a lot of trouble in the future.

]]>http://www.infobo.com/secure-and-practical-passwords/feed/0Which unions are the most influential on Twitter in 2016?http://www.infobo.com/which-unions-are-the-most-influential-on-twitter-in-2016/
http://www.infobo.com/which-unions-are-the-most-influential-on-twitter-in-2016/#respondWed, 30 Nov 2016 19:08:27 +0000http://www.infobo.com/?p=2014Every November I look at how influential the TUC-affiliated unions are on Twitter (see results for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015). I’ve been asked to look at Facebook as well, and may well do this soon. I’ve been testing out some tools for this already. For my annual Twitter analysis, I’ve used a tool called Klout. Klout considers factors

]]>Every November I look at how influential the TUC-affiliated unions are on Twitter (see results for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015). I’ve been asked to look at Facebook as well, and may well do this soon. I’ve been testing out some tools for this already.

For my annual Twitter analysis, I’ve used a tool called Klout. Klout considers factors such as the number of followers, tweets, retweets and interactions when calculating the score.

The top three are unchanged from 2015. Yet again Unite are top. They have been top for the past five years I’ve been doing this analysis.

They have a sizeable lead as well, with an impressive Klout of 84 – far more than the nearest union. This is a very high score that a large company or famous celebrity would be happy with.

Equity again do well, keeping 2nd place for the second year running. Likewise, the PFA continue to impress, holding onto third place

UNISON slipped to 4th last year, and are now joint fourth with the RMT, who have jumped up from 21st. USDAW have also made a giant leap into the top ten, going from 16th to 6th. The ATL and UCU are tied in 7th place.

There are no new entries this year. We have seen some of the smaller unions take to Twitter over the last few years, but this seems to have bottomed out.

Biggest risers

Union

Positions moved up

RMT

17

CWU

15

ASLEF

13

GMB, USDAW

10

The RMT have jumped an very impressive 17 places to 4th. Their high profile industrial action with Southern Rail has seen a lot of coverage on Twitter, which is likely to have been a big factor behind the increase.

It seems like some of the larger unions have been improving their usage of Twitter over the last 12 months. The CWU have started to live up to their name, jumping into the top ten in 9th position from 24th last year. ASLEF have also improved significantly, moving 13 places to joint 17th. The GMB and USDAW areother big risers, both jumping up 10 places.

Biggest falls

Union

Positions moved down

FBU, RCM

12

BDA

9

BECTU, NAHT

7

The FBU and the RCM are the biggest fallers in 2016, dropping down 12 places. They were joint 5th last year, and now they are now sharing 17th. The FBU were getting a lot of coverage for their fight again cuts in 2015, and less coverage this year will explain a large part of this fall.

The BDA slips 9 places this year, while other significant falls occur for BECTU and the NAHT.

Unions have often not utilised technology as well as they could have done, but Twitter is something that comes more naturally to unions. There are some impressive scores in this table, especially for Unite.

]]>http://www.infobo.com/which-unions-are-the-most-influential-on-twitter-in-2016/feed/0Diversity Project website now livehttp://www.infobo.com/diversity-project-website-now-live/
http://www.infobo.com/diversity-project-website-now-live/#respondWed, 16 Nov 2016 14:41:41 +0000http://www.infobo.com/?p=2006I’ve been working on a website for a new initiative, designed to encourage greater diversity and inclusion in the investment and savings industry. The site has recently gone live, and can be seen at http://diversityproject.com. The project started after a group of leaders in the investment industry got together in early 2016 and decided to

]]>I’ve been working on a website for a new initiative, designed to encourage greater diversity and inclusion in the investment and savings industry. The site has recently gone live, and can be seen at http://diversityproject.com.

The project started after a group of leaders in the investment industry got together in early 2016 and decided to take action to accelerate progress towards a more representative workforce in the sector.

One of the driving forces behind it is the Helena Morrissey, the Chair of the Investment Association and former CEO of Newton Investment Management. She also set-up the 30% Club, a campaign group that has the goal of achieving a minimum of 30% women on FTSE-100 boards.

Many other companies, organisations and people have got behind this new initiative. The objectives go further than gender equality alone.

Many of the employees in the investment and savings industries come from privileged backgrounds and ethnic minorities are under-represented. There is also a greater need for people with a wider range of degree subjects, disabilities, age and sexual orientation.

The aim of this new campaign group is to create greater diversity right across this industry. Not just as board level, but from new recruiters to workers in their mid-career looking for a career change. A timescale of five years has been set for the campaign to make a real difference, and it will be interesting to see what progress is made.

The website has been built in the latest version of Drupal – Drupal 8. This is the most powerful open source website content management system – the software on which a website is built and maintained. This is used to power websites such as the American Whitehouse, TUC and the FBU.

This new version of Drupal was launched at the end of last year, but we are only now seeing many new websites built on the technology. Developers have been waiting for the core software to mature and for the most important of the add-on ‘modules’ created by the online community to be released.

Like all websites where we’ve been involved with the development over the last few years, the site used ‘responsive design’ so that it can be used effectively on phones and tablets and also makes better sue of widescreens. It’s also been search engine optimised and is protected and made faster using CloudFlare.